Unless you are a basketball fan from Indiana, chances are you don't know who Billy Shepherd is. So I'm going tell you. I'm going to tell you about Billy ... and about a whole generation of players who helped make basketball the exciting game that it is today.
Billy Shepherd grew up playing basketball in Carmel, Indiana; his dad coached the Carmel High School team. A 5'10" guard in game dominated by giants, Billy could shoot a basketball like few people in his day. He once scored 70 points in a high school game and averaged 32 points per game his junior and senior years. A two-time all state player, in 1968, he was named Mr. Basketball in the state of Indiana.
Let's take a minute to reflect on his Mr. Basketball status. That is no small achievement in any state, but in Indiana, it qualifies you as a demi-god. Hoosiers love their basketball like few others. Consider some of the All-Americans and NBA players who were once bestowed this honor: Sean May (2002); Jared Jeffries (2000); Glenn Robinson (1991); Steve Alford (1982); Kyle Macy (1975); George McGinnis (1969); Rick Mount (1966); Dick and Tom Van Arsdale (1961); and the Big O, Oscar Robertson (1956). Oh, and I would owe Billy an apology if I didn't mention the fact that Billy's younger brother, Dave, was honored in 1970. Wow ... to be in that company. That's a career right there. Billy, however, achieved much more.
At Butler University, Billy became the school's all time leading scorer, and was MVP of the 1972 East-West College All Star game. I watched that game on TV. Billy hit a hook shot from the half court corner - shades of Meadowlark Lemon - to beat the first half buzzer. At the time, I was 10 and I didn't know much about Billy. That was about to change.
Billy came to the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament that year. I grew up in Portsmouth, Virginia. Friends of my father helped organize the PIT, and back then it was quite an event for a small city like Portsmouth. There were few post-season college All-Star tournaments like this, so seniors who were not assured of that early round NBA draft choice flocked to this tournament year after year hoping to get noticed by the pro scouts. My dad and I attended religiously. In 1972, the pro game is really opening up. The ABA is in full swing, and everyone is talking about exciting new players like Pistol Pete and Dr. J. who play like they come from a different planet.
Sitting in a small gym at the old Wilson High School off of High Street, this guard from Butler whom nobody had heard of enters the game, and before you know it, the crowd is going crazy. Billy could shoot - that's the first eye opener. Bombs from 25 feet or more. Then you watch him in the transition game and someone nearby comments: "Who let Maravich on the floor?" Passes are flying behind the back, between the legs, left hand, right hand ... meanwhile teammates seem almost helpless as the ball bounces off their heads, through their hands - nobody was ready for Billy.
Towards the end of the PIT, after one of Billy's games, my dad takes me onto the court, right up to Billy and introduces us. "That's some show you put on there," says my dad. And we ended up in a five or ten minute conversation while Billy dutifully signed dozens of autographs. That's the way it was at the PIT in 1972 - players were completely approachable. Fans wanted to engage in conversations with these exciting athletes. Kids like me were thrilled. The conversation ended with Billy accepting an invitation from my dad for a home cooked meal the next evening. After the dinner, Billy took me out to our driveway and gave me a shooting lesson (I sure wish I could remember what he told me!). And that's how I met Billy Shepherd, but the story doesn't end there.
My dad and several of his friends were seasons ticket holders for the Virginia Squires, an ABA team located in Norfolk, Virginia that once included Julius Erving and George Gervin on the same 1973 roster. So my dad and his friends start bombarding the Squires front office with phone calls about Billy Shepherd. I have no idea if they ever considered the input from fans - in those days, ABA teams were struggling to generate attendance, so maybe they did ... at least I'd like to think so. Any way, in 1973 Billy Shepherd becomes a Virginia Squire. I would get to see my friend play more basketball.
The Squires hosted intra-squad scrimmages in several local area gyms to help build a fan base. We attended one of these, and I'll never forget watching Billy bounce a transition pass off the head of veteran George Irvin. Through Billy, we met players like Dave Twardzik (Dave would later be the starting point guard on the 1977 Portland Trailblazer championship team). While a fan favorite, Billy's stay with the Squires was short. Towards the end of the seaon, he was cut to make room for some guy and Erwin Mueller, an ex-NBA power forward. The Squires needed more height for the playoffs, or so they said. Billy moved on the San Diego Conquistadors where he was coached by Wilt Chamberlain. His third and final year in the ABA was with the Memphis Sounds where he led the league in 3-point shooting percentage at .420. Then, that was it. The ABA had one final year left before it completed a mini-merger with the NBA. Billy had a beautiful wife and a family to raise, and the ABA didn't pay like the NBA ... and the NBA didn't have a need for the league's best 3-point shooter when they had no 3-point shot.
Billy epitomized the ABA while the ABA taught the NBA a lot about what professional basketball needed to become. The ABA was filled with Billy Shepherds - great ballplayers, shooters, and ballhandlers who were extremely approachable and friendly, and who loved the fans and were thrilled to have the opportunity to play professionally. Sure, the overall quality of the league may not have rivaled the NBA, at least not initially, but the ABA proved that there were not enough teams in the NBA for all of the basketball talent at the time. During warmups before a game, fans could walk right up on the court, talk with players, ask for autographs. It was really something. And once the game started, you could watch an exciting style of fast-paced, wide open basketball, including 3-pointers, 3 to make 2 foul shots, and the coolest ball any league ever played with.
I've still got my 1973 Squires program with autographs from the entire team - including Dr. J. - a present from Billy. And to top that, in '74 I played on a Little League named, what else, the Squires. One Saturday I led the league in scoring with 23 points. The local paper had a section in the sports pages devoted to Little Leagues (how great was that!). And in the winter of '74-'75, there was my name in the headlines: "Squires' Carr Bags 23 Points in Churchland Little League." Billy had introduced us to Dave Twardzik who was still with the Squires. Dave took a copy of that article and had it signed by all the Squires. How cool is that!
Years later, while working a job with a toll free phone number, I tracked down Billy's number through information. I got through to him and he remembered me. For a brief 10 minute phone conversation I was a kid again talking to one of my two basketball idols (Maravich was the other). I have no idea what we talked about. It was good just to know that he and his family were doing well living - where else - in Indiana. We could use a few more Billy Shepherds in pro basketball today.
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